May and June 2013. Capriles meets Santos

(Parts of this chronology were previously published in the blog Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights)

May 28, In reference to a trip by Henrique Capriles to Colombia for a meeting with President Santos, Maduro declares that: “There are people of the Venezuelan right that are traveling to countries of Latin America and to the United States to sabotage the [Venezuelan] economy, to hire sicarios to come and kill in the main cities.” After the private meeting between President Santos and Capriles, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua declared: “To receive a person that does not recognize the Venezuelan institutions and that openly called for violence on April 15^th is a very bad sign, and in a way, reveals what we have repeated many times: there has been a conspiracy against Venezuela form Bogota. We did not want to believe that that conspiracy reaches the highest powers of the Colombian State. We have to alert the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean of this new surge of aggressions against Venezuela and its government…” The President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, also concurred that in the theory that the real motive of Caprile´s visit to Colombia was to conspire against Venezuela. According to Cabello the meeting Santos-Capriles was in reality a cover for another meeting between Colombian ex-President Uribe and Caprile´s campaign advisor J.J. Rondón.

May 30, Maduro again points out that there is a plan, plotted from Colombia, to “morally and physically” assassinate National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello: “This son of Chávez [Cabello] is being today subjected to fire, they are trying to accomplish his moral assassination, to then see if they can accomplish his physical assassination. This is a plan directed from Bogotá with the aim of weakening Venezuelan democracy, it is directed by perverse minds.” Later that day on a public meeting at Aragua State, Maduro  gave furhter details of the plot and spoke of proofs of the conspiracy (which however would not be made public in order to protect the sources): “I have proving elements to demonstrate to anyone in the world, it would have to be in private, because I am not going to reveal the precious sources that have been constructed by Venezuela´s State intelligence (…). Roger Noriega, a member of the United States power elites, even if his party is not directly in the government now, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Colombian ex-President, J.J. Rendón, unfortunately born in Venezuela, but a man of unlimited perversity, have a plan for psychological warfare based on actions against the peace and security of Venezuela, they have approved this plan (...) They say it’s a perfect plan and this group met yesterday night in Bogota with part of the Venezuelan fascist right (…), to prepare a plan that includes acts of sabotage against the Venezuelan economy, the dollar, the shortages, and a group of sicarios that will be brought to the country, some say they are already here, to murder Venezuelan soldiers of this Plan of the Patria [Plan Patria Segura]”. He added a threat to the opposition: “I don´t want opposition leaders to come later whining, leaders like Julio Borges [Primero Justicia] (…) No! It can´t be that they go out of the country to conspire with the mafias gringas, Colombian mafias, to destroy Venezuela, while we are here working.” Maduro also publically asked the Fiscal General to look into the case and see if it amounted to treason to the fatherland. He also added another aspect of the plot: “A group of experts has arrived with a poison, and they are prepared to inoculate me with it. I would not die in one day, no, it would sicken me in the duration of the months to come. Can I remain silent about this? No, I have to denounce it and face it.” Maduro ended the meeting with a direct plea to the people: “People be on the alert! Venezuelan State be ready to face the open treason to the Venezuelan fatherland by the fascist right!”

May 31, On a Cabinet Meeting transmitted by public TV Maduro declares: “We are neutralizing conspiracies against our country, you all know that the main conspiracy against our fatherland has moved to Bogotá, all Venezuela knows this, we have put forth the proofs. (…) We are willing to give the Colombian government the precise proofs of how, from Bogotá a conspiracy against the stability of Venezuela has been configured, that thinks it can defeat the Bolivarian revolution." Maduro also gave directs instructions to Foreign Minister Elías Jaua to begin “reconstructing the relations between pour countries.” But he also advised the Judicial Power to look into the “evident violations” by the opposition on its visit to Colombia: “We are cannot be blackmailed. Whoever has to go to jail for treason to the fatherland, will be acted upon no matter who he might be. Here there are no family names or official office that can claim impunity when laws and peace of the Republic are at stake.” Colombian President Santos declared that “it is absurd to think that the Colombian government knows about, or worse that is supporting, any type of action to destabilize the Venezuelan government. We are harmed the most by any problem in Venezuela, what we want is the good of Venezuela, and this is why there must be some sort of misunderstanding, and we will solve any difference with prudence and through the diplomatic channels.”

June 1, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos declares: “In the month of June, NATO will subscribe and agreement with the Colombian government, with the Ministry of Defense, to begin an approachment process of cooperation, with the aim of becoming a part of that organization. Maduro, on a State visit to Nicaragua, reacts to the announcement: “There are some that now want to bring the invading armies of the world to Latin America, this contradicts the international doctrine and legality on which union is based.” Maduro also writes on twitter: “The right, in its hate and craziness, wants to blow (zarpazo) the peace of the country. All on the alert! To continue to struggle for the stability of the country.” The official AVN tittles the news press inwhich it reports the tweet: “Maduro calls on the Venezuelan to be on the alert against the conspiracy of the right.” And goes on to inform that “The offensive of the opposition, through a campaign of disqualification in the social media and the mass media, has centered on the figure of the Head of State [Maduro], and the President of the National Assembly and First Vice-President of the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, the institutions of the State, the Electoral Power, and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB).” The note also reminds the reader that “President Maduro has also denounced the plans and conspiracies of the right, with its international allies, with the aim of destabilizing the country. One of those attacks was produced on 15 and 16 of the past April, when they did not recognize the results of the Presidential elections, won by Nicolás Maduro, and attacked the institutions of the State, the Centers for Integral Diagnosis (CDI), and the headquarters of the Psuv, all of which left 11 Venezuelan dead.”

June 2, José Vicente Rangel warns that there are “external and internal agents” actively conspiring against the country: “The daily send out a lethal message calling for the downfall of the constitutional government and inciting a military uprising.”

June 3, Nicmar Evans, political analyst andpro-government activist, writes in his opinion column: “The Colombian government has never ceased to be the epicenter of the conspiracy of the bi-national oligarchies, under the directives of the United States. The Uribe-Santos conflict is not a political conflict, it is an economic one, and the Venezuelan opposition has permanently use Colombia as a base for conspirative operations, therefore what is really hard to understand is our surprise with the public reception of Capriles by Santos.”

June 3, in a meeting with the military High Command, Maduro declares about the impasse with Colombia: “Don´t you think for a moment that what has happened in these last days is only a misunderstanding, as President Juan Manuel Santos has qualified it. (…) This was no misunderstanding, what they did, they turned Bogotá into the center of the conspiracy against us. They are planning the murder of Diosdado Cabello, my own poisoning, and the murder of soldiers of the Plan Patria Segura on the streets. (…) It is no misunderstanding what is passing now, and now they announce that they are going to NATO. There you have another negative turn against the Bolivarian revolution, an attack against the Bolivarian revolution and a backing of the imperial hegemonic plans.” He ends with a warning: “If you break the rules of the game and want an alliance with NATO, and to come and meddle with Venezuelan internal issues to propitiate destabilization, don´s expect flowers from us, expect clear and blunt answers from us.”

June 4, President Maduro again criticized private media for what he called a “conspiracy of silence”. Directly referring to Últimas Noticias, he complained that they had a veto over the “accomplishments” of the Plan Patria Segura and “over the truth about the miracles that are being done for Venezuela (…), and they magnify the problems of the country.” 

June 6, Diosdado Cabello, addressing a public meeting of the PSUV electoral Unidades de Batalla, declares that: “The time for forgiveness is over (…). From now on, anyone that conspires against the fatherland has to assume his responsibility, we will act according to the law.”